Li Qing, a junior high school teacher from Huagai town in An County visited several disaster areas as a volunteer in the days following the earthquake. She kept a diary of her experiences.
May 12, a sunny day A teacher was killed trying to save his students.
Today was a nice, bright day. But life changed forever at 2:28 PM.
When I heard my mother-in-law shout: "Li Qing, it's an earthquake," I froze. But after a few seconds I woke up to the danger and told her to turn the TV off and get out fast.
I picked up my little daughter, holding her tight. My only thought was to protect her.
I rushed into to the schoolyard in a few minutes. A teacher called Wen came up to me in tears "Mr. Zheng Fafu has been killed," she said, "a wall collapsed on him as he was getting his students out of the building."
May 13, a rainy day A long queue at the gas station. Around 6 PM I went with my husband, who is a taxi driver, to buy gasoline. We plan to join a volunteer team. We finally found a gas station with fuel, but there was a long queue. Some policemen were keeping the queue in order; if they hadn't, there would have been chaos.
May 14, a sunny day Every time we meet relatives we burst into tears.
We went to Xiushui to check on my husband's younger sister today. It used to be one of the busiest towns in the county but now it's a pile of rubble. As we were searching through the ruins we suddenly heard her calling "Brother, Brother". All three of us were in floods of tears.
May 15, a sunny day The damage is much worse than they said on the television.
Yong'an town is on the border of An County and Beichuan County; we call it the gateway to Beichuan. It was really badly hit. Women, children, even men rushed out to the relief trucks asking for food and drinking water.
A group of migrant workers were shocked when they returned to Sangzao town. "The damage is much worse than they said on the television," they said.
May 16, a sunny day My husband and I join a volunteer team.
We left our daughter with relatives in the countryside and set off for Feishui. My husband is looking after survivors from Gaochuan village. I am helping to distribute relief supplies.
May 18, a sunny day Classes have resumed at school.
It is six days since the earthquake. Yesterday, I saw a notice on school's gate asking all teachers and students to report for a meeting.
Headmaster Deng calls the roll as usual at 9 AM. When he calls out the name of Zheng Fafu who died in the earthquake, we feel a pang of grief. We have to get used to the fact that he is not coming back.
We restarted classes six days after earthquake.
May 19, a sunny day It's exactly a week since the earthquake. The school flag is at half-mast. At 2:28 PM, the exact time the earthquake struck on May 12, everyone bows their head as the director announces the three minute silence. Everyone has pinned a white flower on their chest, and there we stand, under the hot sun, mourning those who died.
(China.org.cn translated by Wu Huanshu, May 21, 2008)